Customer Reviews

The Making of a Leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For 10 years I've used The Making of A Leader in my work developing leaders. First, the book has been instrumental in my own personal and leadership development. Second, I use the content in workshops and classes all over the world. The principles hold up well in a variety of cultural contexts. And never before have these principles and practices been more relevant than today!

In The Making of Leader, Dr. J. Robert Clinton documents his research of hundreds of leaders. Clinton discovered a generalized time-line consisting of six phases that represent the general flow of a leader's life. Development phases represent major segments of a leader's development. The six phases are:

1. Sovereign Foundations
2. Inner-life Growth
3. Ministry Maturing
4. Life Maturing
5. Convergence
6. Afterglow

Identifying phases gives a leader capacity to track progress in their development, and clarify insights and lessons. Armed with these patterns a leader has the ability to actually identify and develop leadership, character, vision, values, and relational skills. This is what separates Dr. Clinton's book from the rest of the leadership genre; he actually provides the tools to develop a leader, not just talk about what one is or does.

Each chapter covers roughly one development phase. Inside each phase we learn that there are Process Items that are specific types of challenges leaders typically will face during each phase. By identifying Process Items, leaders are armed with the means to see beyond their immediate circumstances to what the underlaying developmental lesson might be. I've been using these Process Items for years in my own life and in coaching other leaders to grow. They are tremendously helpful!

Just so you don't think this is just a how-to book, let me say that this book often invokes a deep spiritual response from leaders. It's as if leaders gain perspective on their circumstance and see patterns of development-or lack of development-with new eyes.

This book is written, of course, from a Christian perspective and for Christian leaders. But the appeal of the book goes far beyond just this segment of the population. Dr. Clinton offers a useful grid for recognizing the lessons and patterns of leadership development.

If you desire to be equipped with the tools to develop leaders, then this book is for you!

I met Bobby Clinton during a difficult time of transition. Over a cup of coffee, after asking a few questions, he was able to perfectly describe what was going on in my life and outline a practical plan to make the experience most profitable. It was if he had been reading my mail for the past two years.

When I told him how amazed I was at his ability he outlined for me the research that gave birth to this book. He and his students at Fuller Theological Seminary had studied the lives of over 400 leaders. The patterns of emergence they discovered are the basis of this book.

The book is a must read for anyone who is interested in the topic of leadership and leadership development.

Five stars? Yup... because a study of this text may revolutionize your view of leadership and what it means to be led. It did for me.

This book focuses on Christian leadership, outlining the lives of known leaders and how God developed them to do what He needed them to do.

It provides an honest, challenging and humbling understanding the responsibilities of being a leader, and how to develop a sucessor. This is for serious students of God who do not depend on 'rah-rah' leadership, but deep, life-long goals. Similarly, this isn't a PK-style look at leadership, though it comes from an evangelical understanding of God. However, PK fans might see this as a bigger, next step in a long journey.

The focus is about serving Christ, about being lead by Him, and in turn, in obedience, leading others to serve Him.

I read it in the context of a Wheaton College masters-level missions course.

The writer is a professor at Fuller Theo. Sem.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

I teach leadership and leadership development both in the States and internationally and I can tell there is no better book on the subject. There are other books available, and they all are easier reads than this one but this is or will be the classic on the subject.

The book goes much further than explaining leadership it shows how every incident in your life went to form and fashion who you are. Take your time with this book and definitely do the chart work and you will recieve the peace of not only knowing who you are but that your past was all valuable and your future can be better understood.

Dr. Clinton applies an analytical, engineering mind to historical and spiritual truths. He puts struggles, trials as well as victories and advancements into a very organized perspective. This is not light reading, as he forewarns people at the beginning. The terminology alone warrants the keeping of a finger in the glossary at all times. If you are a leader or know and support one, the book will be solid encouragement and a source of peace during all that you go through on the way to glory. It both challenges and heals. God's hand and purpose are seen at each juncture and circumstance. I'm buying other copies to give to other leader friends because of its wisdom and long-term effect. A wonderful reference by a very thoughtful and blessed person.

Possibly one of the most significant shifts in the culture of church ministry over the past 10 years has been the emphasis on leadership and its development, both in our own lives and in the lives of those we have been called to lead. The downside is that most of us have a lot of knowledge about leadership skills and practices but no "big picture" understanding of how to "get there."

In 1988, Dr. J. Robert Clinton, who was at the time an assistant prof. of leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, wrote what some consider to be the definitive work on leadership development. In "The Making of a Leader," Dr. Clinton developed a profoundly insightful text that will help any leader learn to recognize the lessons and stages of leadership development. Beware: This is not a book of "how-to's" that assumes anyone who works hard enough can make herself a great leader. This is a book that attempts to answer a single question: How does God develop His leaders over a lifetime? The result is an eye-opening look at the sovereignty of God as He molds and shapes those whom He has placed on the road to a lifetime of leadership.

I highly recommended this book for leaders or potential leaders who:
---[ Are wondering what God is doing
---[ Are beginning to seek their place in ministry
---[ Need a fresh challenge from God
---[ Need to understand how to select and develop young leaders
---[ Want to know how God develops leaders

Personally, I rate this as one of the most significant and life-forming books I've ever read...so much so that I try to re-read it every year or two.

So far, this is my absolute favorite book on the subject of leadership development. After 16 years of teaching and applying leadership development principles, this seems to me the definitive work on how the process works. Reading it was tantamount to stepping back from a connect-the-dots picture and clearly seeing what the picture is going to be--it finally makes sense. I believe Clinton did a great job of communicating how every part of our lives ties together to fulfill God's divine destiny for us(Acts 13:36). This is a must read for every one who aspires to maximize their leadership potential.

Tired of same ol' tired lines on leadership? This book can easily become a favorite reference for leaders. Especially those leaders who are investing their time in mentoring others. It is directed to people in ministry, but the principles are truly universal. Dr. Clinton goes beyond "6 easy steps to leading" and offers a profound basis for <investing in people>, not just filling positions. I enjoy reading it over and over...fresh insights each time. The charts and timelines, graphs and personal illustrations make it readable and not stuffy. This book is meant to be read...not just owned! Enjoy the feast! :)

This book contains no surprises. The title tells at the outset that this is a book about the process of making a leader. The writer then goes on to set forth all of the various steps and stages that take place in bringing about this end. As such, the book could be divided into two major sections. First there is the process of making a leader that in which we are given a guided tour through the early, the middle and the final stages of that process. Only in the last two chapters do we focus upon the practical applications of this tour as we view a leadership philosophy and a set of three challenges to pursue as we move along that process.

It seems to me that anyone who is already in a leadership position will be able to use this book primarily as a memento of where he has been, but I found myself wondering whether my reaction would have been any different ten or fifteen years earlier in my own journey. It is a bit like giving lessons for falling in love for the first time; before having gone through the experience you have nothing to relate the lessons to and after you have gone through the experience you have no real need for the lessons.

The central task of leadership is influencing God's people towards God's purposes (203), but this must begin with the leader himself seeing what those purposes are in his own life. A continuing theme in this book is that one ministers out of what one is and that ministry flows out of being. This means that my first great business on earth is the sanctification of my own soul and that a lifestyle of obedience to the Lord will only be taught as it is first caught. The application of this theme is that I as a leader need to focus upon my own spiritual life rather than focusing upon processes or techniques of leadership.

"In a crisis, we are what we really are. How we react in a crisis is often more important than solving our crisis" (Page 173).

This book is a must read for anyone who is involved with team building and developing leaders. I work in the field of Leadership Development and this is one of the key texts we continually refer back to on a regular basis. Clinton is an expert in this field and this book provides a guide for basic leadership development stages and how to do leadership development. Thanks to Clinton for an important work that every leader needs to read.